


I Want It That Way

by chuwuyas



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Canon Compliant, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gay Shiro (Voltron), I really tried my best, Injured Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pidge | Katie Holt is So Done, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), please give it a chance, singing is apparently a thing to them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 21:47:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15519294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chuwuyas/pseuds/chuwuyas
Summary: In which Lance realizes that he likes Keith and comes to Shiro to know what to do about his newly discovered bisexuality. Some other things happen.OrLance gets confused all the time, Keith is bad with feelings, Shiro is a good friend and Pidge is just so done





	I Want It That Way

**Author's Note:**

> Ay, my paladudes friends! I've been shipping Klance for a while now and I wanted to write something about them before Season 7 airs, so I did it! This story goes around Lance confused with his feelings for Keith and him going to Shiro to know what to do about it. Cue some Adashi, the talk™, Keith who doesn't know how to deal with his feelings, Pidge who can't stand them anymore and Lance being a Bi Disaster™.
> 
> P.S: English is not my first language, so I already apologize for some mistakes that the story must have. I tried my best tho, I hope you like it as much as I did.
> 
> P.S.2: Lance gets injured at some point of the story, so be careful while reading it.
> 
> Have a good reading!

During his lifetime, Lance has had several occasions where he got confused.

Like that time, when he was still a child, that he was confused on why his papa wasn't opening his eyes. He remembered running happily to his sleeping papa on the couch, his 4-year-old-self poking him to wake him up so they could play super heroes together, getting confused when his papa didn't open his eyes and by the way his skin was cold.

"Mama!" He remembered calling for his mother, running to her for answers. "Mama, why is papa not opening his eyes?"

After that, all he could remember was the hysterical screams in a confused mix of Spanish and English, his older siblings running around the house crying with their phones in hand, his mama and abuelita bent against the sleeping body of his papa on the couch, screaming and crying as they tried unsuccessfully to wake him up. He had been extremely confused at the time, but that was how he discovered that his father had died.

There was that other time, too, back to the Galaxy Garrison, that he'd been confused by the sudden anger that had taken hold of his senses when he saw a boy mocking Keith to the point of making him cry. The feeling of anger had left him confused, 'cause _damn it_ , even he teased Keith all the time, finding it funny how Keith always infused his cheeks with air, crossed his arms in his chest in anger, beat his foot to the floor, how his cheeks got flushed and his bang fell in front of his eyes as he groaned, but this? It was not nice to observe.

He felt the anger burn in his veins, his blood boil, his fists automatically closing at the side of his body as the boy -James- continued to make jokes and laugh debauchery at Keith, occasionally poking him in search of some reaction from the lower boy. Lance remembered watching from distance the way Keith closed his eyes tightly, his lips trembling with nervousness, his hands clenched at his side as if he were about to react to James's taunts, and he also remembered the way he took an involuntary step forward, his own hands clenched into fists, ready to take that ridiculous smile away from James's lips with a punch, when Hunk pulled him by the arm back into his place.

"What do you think you're doing, man?" Hunk had asked him in an angry whisper, making Lance frown.

He remembered shaking his head, his brow still furrowed as he turned his gaze from Hunk to look at Keith in time to see the boy rushing out of the hall, the loud laughter of James and his friends echoing around. Lance looked down as he relaxed his fists, his brows furrowing once again as he noticed the small red cuts on the palms of his hands where he had pressed his nails. His reaction had left him confused, because damn it, he didn't like Keith himself, finding it annoying how Keith felt better than anyone else, how unattainable he was, how he didn't find anyone good enough to be his friend. Keith Kogane, Garrison's best pilot, they said. Lance rolled his eyes every time he heard that phrase.

But, of all the times he had been confused in his life, nothing compared to _this_.

Lance sighed, leaning against his Lion's paw, his arms crossed in front of his chest, his eyes moving to watch his friends scattered across the small glade of this planet they had chosen to sleep and rest as they recharged their energies. It was a small, uninhabited planet called Koblyx, with the night sky in a strange shade of dark pink and with bright green stripes cutting the sky that stretched for several kilometers until they disappeared from sight; the ground had a light shade of blue-green, the trees around the glade were tall and colorful, and huge purple mountains could be seen in the distance, the sound of the orange ocean on the other side of the trees being muffled by the sputter of the flames of the small fire that Pidge and Hunk had made for them to warm up at night. Allura, Romelle, and Coran were talking animatedly around the fire, in their hands were sticks with what Lance suspected it was a fruit spiked at the tips, their laughter occasionally echoing through the glade; Hunk and Krolia were cutting more fruit and sticking them into sticks to bake them at the fire along with pieces of flesh from a monster they had killed, and Pidge was playing with Keith and the Cosmic Wolf, disappearing and reappearing with a loud chuckle while Keith smiled and laughed softly.

He smiled, a comforting feeling of peace taking hold of his stomach as he watched his friends so happy and quiet, relaxed, taking a break from the war that surrounded their lives and terrified them daily, making them fear for their lives, not knowing if they would see the next day. He shuddered, his mind wandering to the day he almost died, making his stomach flutter uncomfortably and his blood freeze, swallowing as painful memories filled his mind. It was weird to think that he had literally died for a few minutes, his life had slipped from his body, a feeling of helplessness in his body when, in his last moments with life, he thought he would never be able to see his family again and they were doomed to spend the rest of their lives without knowing what had really happened to him.

But then Allura showed up and saved him, her fingers still glowing with the rest of quintessence as Lance regained his consciousness, a comforting smile on her lips.

_You're fine, you'll be fine._

So he was smiling, because he would be fine. He would see Earth again, would see his family, the ocean, his friends, Keith.

_Keith._

It was weird to think about Keith. Keith, who had been missing for a long time and that Lance thought that had died on some mission with the Blade of Marmora. Keith, who had returned two years older, taller, with his Galra mother, a wolf and an Altean. For a small period of time Lance thought he would never see Keith again, and the thought of the Black Paladin dying on a mission and the other Paladins never knowing it terrified the heck out of him. He would never forget the feeling of happiness that took hold of his body when Keith returned, safe and sound.

_Does he look bigger to you guys? He's bigger, right?_

Because _damn it_ , Keith do looked bigger. Bigger, older and _prettier_.

Lance shook his head and sighed, confused. His eyes moved to Keith, now talking to Pidge as he stroked the Cosmic Wolf's ears, and he smiled faintly. It was good to have Keith back, having all the original Paladins of the Voltron reunited and also Allura, along with Coran and now Krolia and Romelle, he felt as if his family were finally complete. He watched silently his friends chatting happily among themselves, his arms still crossed in his chest, and his eyes wandered to Shiro leaning silently against the Black Lion's paw. Lance swallowed and sighed, his eyes wandering to Keith one last time before he pulled away from his Lion and started walking toward Shiro, determined to finally talk to someone about his feelings.

"Hey, Shiro." He said as he approached enough of the Ex-Black Paladin, who smiled at him.

"Hey, Lance. Are you okay?" Shiro said with a frown, probably picking up the way Lance looked nervous.

Lance smiled. "I'm fine, it's just..." He said, scratching the back of his neck with his right hand. "If I give you a hypothetical situation, can you help me?"

Shiro straightened, suddenly aware to Lance. "Yes, of course. What is it?"

Lance sighed and moved to lean against Black next to Shiro, shooting a quick glance at Keith before clearing his throat. "Okay, so let's imagine a hypothetical situation where a hypothetical boy has a hypothetical friend/rival. This hypothetical boy has always hypothetically liked girls, but lately he has hypothetically feeling some strange and confusing things about that other hypothetical boy who hypothetically had been missing for a few hypothetical months. What should he do? I mean, shouldn't he hypothetically hate that rival?"

Shiro was silent for a few seconds, his eyes briefly wide before he grinned openly. Lance smiled weakly, his cheeks flushing.

"Right." Shiro cleared his throat. "I would say that what this hypothetical boy is feeling is normal, you know? I think we don't choose who we fall in love with, love is something that just happens. Has that hypothetical boy ever felt that way about other boys?"

Lance looked down at his feet, biting his lower lip. "Maybe?" He muttered, making Shiro gasp in surprise. Lance looked wide-eyed at Shiro, who in turn just smiled back at Lance. Shiro cleared his throat again. "And what exactly is this hypothetical boy really confused about?"

"I-" Lance began, then interrupted himself. " _He's_ confused about his hypothetical feelings for this other hypothetical boy because they should be hypothetical rivals. He shouldn't feel that way about someone he should hypothetically hate."

Shiro nodded. "I get it." He said, then leaned back against the paw of the Black Lion, staring at his friends from distance. "You know, Lance, I already felt that way too."

Lance turned to face the side of Shiro's face. "Really?"

Shiro nodded again. "Back in the Garrison, there was this guy named Adam-"

"Professor Adam?" Lance interrupted him, brows furrowed in confusion. Shiro nodded again.

"Yeah. We didn't get along very well in the beginning, and when we were assigned to be flight partners I really thought we were going to kill each other." Shiro let out a soft laugh at the memory, his eyes getting wet. "But we ended up getting closer, and our brawl went from a brawl to a strong friendship, which soon turned into... You know." He stopped, glancing sideways at Lance, who in turn stared at Shiro open-mouthed and wide-eyed, understanding where Shiro wanted to go.

"You... You and Professor Adam..."

"Yes." Shiro confirmed. "We were dating. Actually, Adam had proposed to me a few months before the Kerberos mission, but unfortunately we had to broke up because of the mission."

Lance gasped. "You are-"

Shiro smiled, looking at Lance. "Yes."

"Holy shit, I didn't know." Lance said exasperatedly. He couldn't believe that _Shiro_ , his leader, his _hero_ , liked men just as he apparently liked.

"Okay, but that's not about me." Shiro straightened. "So, the hypothetical boy?"

"Oh, yes, of course." Lance said, shaking his head. "So, I can-" He stopped. "I mean, _he_ can-"

"Lance." Shiro said. "It's okay, I know."

Lance looked at Shiro, his lips compressed in a thin line, knowing there was no escape.

He sighed, looking down at his feet. "What's going on, Shiro? I like girls, I always liked them, but then why am I feeling this way about... about..."

"Keith." Shiro completed.

Lance swallowed, snorting. "God, it's so weird to hear that out loud."

Shiro laughed softly. "I can imagine." Then he looked back into the glade, where their friends began to organize themselves to sleep.

"I just want to understand what's going on with me, you know?" Lance assumed in a whisper, Shiro being able to hear him only because of the small distance between them.

"You like Keith. What's so strange about that? "Shiro asked with a frown, and Lance shrugged.

"I liked Allura too." He said. "This is weird, I shouldn't like just one of them?"

Shiro shrugged. "Not exactly, no. If you liked them both in the same way, I think you might be bisexual?"

Lance turned to Shiro, tilting his head to the side. "You think so?"

"What?" Shiro asked confused, and Lance swallowed.

"That I may be... Bisexual?"

Shiro smiled. "Of course. You like girls, but you like boys too, right? It's completely normal, Lance."

Lance smiled back, letting out the breath he didn't know how he was holding. He looked at Allura, braiding Romelle's hair, and then looked at Keith, eating a piece of meat sitting next to Krolia and occasionally feeding the wolf lying at his feet, and a comforting feeling took over his body when Shiro's words echoed in his mind. _Bisexual_.

"Bisexual." He repeated aloud, even if in a whisper to himself, and a word never seemed so sure as it came out of his lips. "I am bisexual."

Shiro smiled again, resting his hand on Lance's shoulder and giving a slight squeeze. "I'm very happy to be part of this discovery, Lance."

Lance smiled. "Thank you."

They fell into a comfortable silence after that, watching their friends chatting and playing in the distance while they were feeding or getting ready for bed, and for the first time Lance didn't feel so weird looking at Keith.

It took a few more minutes before everyone was finally lying in their sleeping bags, everything eventually becoming silent when everyone fell asleep and only Lance and Shiro remained awake. They went together to where Krolia had left two plates of meat and fruits for them, and then they went to their own sleeping bags after they had eaten, lying next to each other. Lance settled into his sleeping bag and lay on his back, one arm over his belly and the other behind his head as he stared at the stars that decorated the great dark pink sky of the planet, so much bigger and brighter than the stars from the Earth.

He sighed, turning sideways until his face was facing Shiro, already with his eyes closed and his white hair falling in front of his eyes. He watched Shiro's face in silence for a few minutes, his mind foggy with thoughts, his eyes unfocused.

"Hey, Shiro?" Lance called in a whisper, watching the expressions on Shiro's face for any sign that he was still awake. For a moment he thought Shiro was already asleep, until he heard the soft grunt the man gave in response.

"Hm?" Shiro replied without opening his eyes, and Lance bit his lips.

"Do you think Adam is waiting for you, back on Earth?"

Lance held his breath when he saw Shiro's jaw clench and he swallow, afraid that he'd said the wrong thing. He was ready to apologize when Shiro sighed, opening his eyes slightly to look at Lance.

"I hope so."

Lance nodded softly, holding Shiro's gaze for a few more seconds before he sighed and closed his eyes. The sleep came faster than he'd expected.

-x-x-x-

_Of course_  the trip back to Earth wouldn't be just fun and games. 

It took about four days before they faced the first threat. A group of Galra who had enslaved dozens of habitants of a small planet called Voytsoi, it was quick and considerably easy to deal with Voltron's help and soon they were back on the way back to Earth with only a few scratches and none very serious injury. 

A few days later, they faced another fleet of Galras, this time a little more intense and stronger than the previous one and that gave them a little more work to deal with, with Hunk having left the fight with a small cut on his lips that Lance was afraid it would cause a scar, but it still wasn't that bad. That fight wore them off, so Allura suggested they rest and recharge the lions on a nearby planet instead of continuing the journey without pause. Keith led them to the first planet with a pleasant atmosphere they found, guiding his Lion gracefully through the air and deflecting from the treetops, and Lance rolled his eyes at the exaggerated display of the Black Paladin. 

They landed near to a lake, in an open field overlooking to the high mountains where the sun began to hide and give way to the three moons of the planet, which was unbelievably similar to the previous one they had rested. It was a little larger than the previous one, but its colors closely resembled the other planet; the floor had a soft shade of pastel pink and the sky was a pale blue that made Lance remember Earth, the water of the lake having the same pastel pink tones of the ground and the trees in soft shades of lilac and purple, the red mountains highlighting over the soft colors of the horizon. 

Lance stepped out of his Lion and stretched, groaning as his back snapped. He rubbed his eyes and looked around the field where they had landed, grinning at the pastel tones they had, walking to the side of the lake. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to feel the gentle breeze embrace his skin. 

"Nice planet." Keith said suddenly on Lance's side, causing him to jump into place with the fright. Lance opened his eyes, staring wide-eyed at Keith's side, casually staring at the sunset with his arms folded across his chest. 

"What the  _quizznak_ , Keith!" Lance said. "Where did you come from?!" 

Keith shrugged. "From Texas?" 

Lance rolled his eyes, snorting. "It was a rhetorical question, but okay." He said, folding his arms across his chest and looking forward, then frowned. "I didn't know you were Texan?" 

Keith shrugged again. "I've never talked to anyone about that. Besides Shiro." He said, and Lance nodded. They were silent for a few seconds before Lance smiled when something went through his head. He looked at Keith, who glanced at him sideways before narrowing his eyes. "Don't." 

"Hey, Keith?" Lance said amused, a mischievous smile on his lips. 

"Don't." Keith grunted. 

"Do you like country music?" Lance asked with a crooked smile. "Can you ride a horse? Do you say  _yeehaw_?" 

"Pidge!" Keith called. The girl looked up from her tablet, her eyebrows arched. "Is this water toxic or can it cause some sort of problem?" He asked, pointing to the lake, and Pidge tapped her tablet again. 

"No, it's all right." She replied after scanning the water for a few seconds, Keith lifted a thumb to thank her. 

"Keithy." Lance called poking Keith's cheek with one finger, making Keith look at him with an arched eyebrow. " _Country boy I love_ _youuuuu_ _._ " 

Glancing blankly at Lance, Keith used all his strength to push the Red Paladin into the lake. Lance's eyes widened and he tried desperately to grab to something that, unfortunately for Keith, ended up being his arm, which eventually led both boys into the water. 

Lance returned to the surface shortly after, breathing in a large amount of air as he swung his arms to keep his head out of the water, throwing water on Keith's face as the Black Paladin finally came back to the surface. 

"You little shit!" Lance shouted swimming to Keith and shoving the boy's head under the water. Keith waved his arms and pushed Lance's face away from him as he returned to the surface, a deep chuckle from his throat as he poured more water into Lance's face. "I'm gonna kill you!" 

"I'd like to see you try!" Keith yelled back, throwing water on Lance's face and chuckling as the Paladin swallowed water and began spitting into the lake, coughing. 

Lance stopped coughing after a few seconds, staring deathly at Keith standing in front of him, his black hair tossed back and leaving his pretty face exposed, the scar on his right cheek glistening with sunbeams and droplets of water. He swallowed.  _Damn it, why did Keith have to be this pretty?_  

"Is there anything on my face?" Keith asked innocently when he noticed Lance's gaze on his face, his brows furrowed and his fingers touching his forehead, pulling out a few strands of hair that were glued to it because of the water. 

"It is, actually." Lance answered, his eyes briefly wide, struggling not to laugh as Keith's eyes widened. 

"Really? What is it?" He asked, running his hand over his face to remove whatever it was there. 

Lance smiled crookedly, throwing a large amount of water on Keith's face before swimming away. He let out a loud laugh when he heard Keith curse him, the laughter dying in his throat when something pulled him back, making him swallow more water. The water had a strange sweet taste, pleasant to drink, but not in that way. He looked back in time to see Keith leap into him, pushing him into the water, causing Lance to struggle to escape the grip, but instead he chose to grab Keith's arms and swim further down the lake, smiling when he saw Keith looking annoyed at him. 

They beated their arms at each other, struggling to get back to the surface, pushing and elbowing on the other, but smiling as they did so. Lance found it magnificent how Keith's hair seemed to have a life of its own underwater, the long hair moving gracefully around the Paladin's face as he pushed Lance and smiled, and even though he couldn't see clearly being underwater, Lance swore that not even the beauty of all the mermaids of the world matched the beauty of Keith. 

-x-x-x- 

They stayed in the water until the sun had set and the planet's three moons were already high in the sky. Pidge, Hunk, and Romelle ended up joining them hours later, taking advantage of the warm water of the lake to wash themselves and also play around with the ball that Pidge had found in the Green Lion and thrown into the lake. 

The five of them ended up leaving the lake only when the water began to become cold and uncomfortable against their skins, rushing to their lions so they could change their wet clothing to dry and warm ones and then snuggled around the fire that Krolia had made. 

Lance sat on a log near the fire, his back facing the Red Lion, feeling her soft, warm purr in his mind. He held his hands out to warm them up, still cold from the icy water of the lake even though he was now in warm clothes. Allura put a spit with meat in his hands before going to sit next to Coran. 

"Damn it, it's cold." Keith suddenly said as he showed behind him, jumping up the trunk so he could sit next to Lance. He sat rubbing his uncovered arms, wearing only his usual black t-shirt and fingerless gloves. 

Lance frowned. "Where's your jacket?" 

Keith shrugged, reaching for the fire. His hair was still wet, pointing in all directions. "It doesn't fit anymore." He murmured. 

Lance nodded, looking at the stick with meat in his hands. He glimpsed his green jacket resting beside him, swallowing before reluctantly reaching for his hoodie. 

"Here." He murmured, offering the coat to Keith. "I'm not cold, you can use it." 

Keith looked at the jacket in Lance's hands for a few seconds, wondering if he should take the offer, before grabbing the coat and putting it on, sighing contentedly for escape the cold. 

"Thank you." He said with a crooked smile, making Lance smile back. 

"My God!" Pidge shouted suddenly from the trunk she was sitting on the opposite side of where Lance and Keith were. They lifted their faces to look at her, meeting her with her hand on her face, shaking her head as Hunk and Romelle laughed at her side. 

They stared at each other with a raised eyebrow, confused, before they shrugged and went back to doing what they were doing before, Lance eating the meat in his hands while Keith was talking to Shiro, now sitting next to him. 

Lance finished off his flesh and discarded the stick at the stake, taking a sip of water from the bottle Coran threw at him before he embraced his arms and stared at the dark sky, so much like Earth, full of stars and clouds in random points that gave him the feeling of being back at his house. He closed his eyes and let his imagination guide him away, allowing himself to fantasize that he was back to Earth, on the beach, with his brothers running and screaming across the sand as he sat on his surfboard in the calm sea, watching the stars; if he struggled just a little longer, he swore he'd be able to feel the cold sea water wrap around his legs, or feel the warm sand of the beach penetrate through his toes. He smiled, face leaning toward the sky, feeling the gentle wind shake his hair and the fire to warm his body, not even bothering to open his eyes when he felt a blanket being laid on his shoulders to protect him from the cold. His mind wandered into the summer days when he and his family gathered around a campfire, just like now, and they sang songs all night long, stopping only when the sun began to rise on the horizon. 

" _You are,_ " Lance murmured with a smile as he remembered one of the songs. " _My fire._ " He tapped his fingers on his knee. " _The one, desire._ " He continued. " _Believe me when I say-_ " 

" _I want it that way._ " 

Lance opened his eyes when he heard Keith complete the song. He averted his eyes at the boy at his side, a soft smile on his lips, making it almost impossible for Lance not to smile back. 

" _But we are two_ _worlds_ _apart._ " Lance continued the song, an arched eyebrow, almost as if challenging Keith to continue the song, making Keith smile crookedly. 

" _Can't reach to your heart when you say-_ " Keith completed in a soft, low voice, and Lance was surprised at how good Keith was singing, even though his voice sounded shaky because he was rubbing his arms. 

" _I want it that way._ " They sang together, smiling at each other, their voices coming in synchrony and harmony. Lance watched with a frown as Keith's chin trembled minimally and he rubbed his arms, jerking his legs up and down. "Are you still cold?" 

Keith denied, rubbing one hand over the other. "No, I'm fine." He replied shrinking into Lance's hoodie. 

Lance tilted his head to the side, not falling for the excuse. "Oh really?" 

"Yes." Keith confirmed. 

Lance rolled his eyes, opening his right arm and extending the blanket so that Keith could warm up with him. Keith stared at the space next to Lance for a moment, then to Lance's face and then to the space next to him again, pondering for a few seconds whether he should accept the offer or not and sighing when he gave up and picked up the open tip from the blanket, tucking it over his shoulders and sticking the side of his body against Lance's body as he squeezed the blanket closer to him. He sighed again, relieved when the warm air enveloped him. Both were silent for a moment, the fire in front of them suddenly looking very interesting before Lance finally came back to sing: 

" _Tell me why you're nothing but a heartache._ " He murmured, looking sidelong at Keith grinning crookedly. 

" _Tell me why you're_ _nothin_ _'_ _but a mistake._ " Keith completed, his voice as low as Lance's, moving in the rhythm of the song and making his fingers touch under the blanket. 

" _Tell me why I never_ _wanna_ _hear you say,_ " They sang together, their voices again synchronizing before they both smiled, still staring at the fire. " _I want it that way._ " 

" _Am I your fire?_ " Lance sang as he stared at Keith, one eyebrow arched at him as if the question were directed at him. 

Keith smiled, nodding, tilting his head to the side. " _Your one desire?_ " 

Lance nodded, laughing. " _Yes,_ _I know it's too late but I...?_ " 

" _...Want it that way._ " Keith completed loudly, his eyes closing as he exclaimed the music and laughed, making Lance smile openly, trying not to think about the way Keith looked so pretty that way, with his long hair falling on his face, his face lit by the flames of the fire, his eyes shining as he smiled openly and continued to hum the music, body moving in the rhythm of the song and fingers drumming on Lance's knee under the blanket. Lance smiled again, knowing how ridiculous he must be looking at Keith that way, but he didn't really care. Not when Keith was gently holding his leg under the blanket, away from everyone's eyes, while now singing animatedly with Shiro and Hunk the rest of the song and his fingers tracing invisible circles in his leg, so simply that Lance was sure that he didn't even know what he was doing. 

He didn't care. 

-x-x-x- 

A few days later, during a hot night on another planet they had landed to rest, Lance had a nightmare. 

Nightmares used to be frequent for him. About a year ago, when he and his friends had joined in this adventure through the Universe, nights without nightmares were rarer than sleepless nights with bad dreams. It was nightmares about his family, about them dying in his arms and blaming him for not being able to save them; was nightmares about his friends, leaving him behind and replacing him with someone more important, stronger than him. It was nightmares where he was alone, floating in the middle of the galaxy, cold, frightened, without news of his friends or any living being that could save him from his agony. 

It was nightmares where he killed his own friends, controlled by Haggar. Their screams of agony echoing through his ears as he killed them mercilessly, smiling as their bloods splashed on his face. 

It was one of those nightmares that had woken him up that night. He sat up in his sleeping bag, his heart racing, his body shaking, his hair clinging to his brow with sweat, tightening his chest over his t-shirt to try to calm his heartbeat. 

"It's okay," he whispered to himself as he took a deep breath, looking around the glade to find his friends sleeping deeply in their sleeping bags. "It was just a nightmare, you're fine." 

Taking a few more deep breaths, Lance finally dropped his body back, placing his right arm behind his head and laying on it, staring at the stars. When he felt that his breathing had returned to normal he allowed himself to close his eyes, repenting immediately when flashes of his nightmare took hold of his mind, making him whimper to open his eyes again, opening his sleeping bag and standing up when he accepted that he wouldn't be able to sleep so soon. 

He slipped on his sneakers and walked among the sleeping bodies of his friends around the now off, but still warm, bonfire. He walked through Coran snoring and accidentally stepped into Pidge's hand, gaining a strong punch in the leg in response and muttering a quick apology before moving away. 

He ended up standing in front of the lake, rubbing his arms as he felt the cold breeze blow through his skin. As they approached the Earth, more like their home were the planets they lay to rest; Lance smiled as they landed on this planet, noting the incredible similarities to Planet Earth itself. The daytime sky was light blue and the night sky dark with stars, the ground was green and grassy, and the water of the lake was crystal blue, with huge red trees surrounding the glade they were in. 

He sighed, opening his arms to the cold wind wrap him around. He stretched his arms and snapped his fingers, snapping his neck to the side and eventually seeing a well-known dark-haired boy sitting next to the lake, hugging his legs in his chest. Lance bit his lip before approaching. 

"Hey," he mumbled as soon as he got close enough, sitting down next to the boy. "Can't sleep?" 

Keith shrugged. "Just don't feel like sleeping. You?" 

Lance sighed. "I had a nightmare." 

"Oh," Keith said. "Wanna talk about that?" 

"Not really." Lance replied. 

Keith nodded, and then they fell into a comfortable silence. They were silent for several minutes, just enjoying each other's company and staring at the lake before Lance sighed and tumbled backward, lying down in the soft grass and staring at the stars. 

"What do you think we'll find on Earth?" Lance asked in a whisper, his fingers playing with the grass beneath his hands. 

"What do you want us to find?" Keith asked back, looking at Lance from above. Lance held his gaze for just a second before looking back up at the sky. 

"I want to find my mama," he replied with a soft smile. "And my siblings, and my abuelita. I want them to have a huge ass party when I get back. " 

Keith didn't say anything for a few seconds, just looked at Lance with a faint smile on his lips, and then he dropped his body back and lay down next to Lance to look at the stars, their fingers touching in the grass because of the proximity. 

"Do you have a large family?" Keith asked, turning his face to look at Lance. 

Lance smiled. "Heck, yes. My family is huge, I have eight brothers and like fifteen cousins, that without counting my sister pregnant with twins and my other cousins also pregnant." 

Keith smiled at Lance, then turned his gaze to the stars. Some fireflies flew next to them. "It must be nice to have a big family." 

"You should see it at Christmas." Lance said with a laugh, his pinky finger brushing against Keith's as he chuckled. "What about you? How is your family?" 

Lance felt Keith wince at his side, frowning as Keith swallowed. 

"I, uh." He said uncomfortably. "I don't really have a family. I lost my father when I was six and I met my mother recently, so the whole family I had was Shiro." 

It was Lance's turn to swallow. Even though he didn't often talk to him back on Garrison, he knew that Keith's life hadn't been easy; the boy having lived part of his life in foster homes with postice families full of other children to care for. Lance knew how difficult it was to live in a large family sometimes, but Keith was different from himself. Keith was a lone wolf, Keith hadn't been made to live in a pack; he was a free spirit, he worked best on his own, but his life story was still sad. Lance couldn't imagine how Keith had reacted when he was told that Shiro, his brother, his only family, had died on a mission and would never return home. 

He bit his lower lip, minimally turning his face to face the side of Keith's pale face. The Black Paladin had his eyes closed, his chin tilted to the sky, his black hair spreading like silk on the grass, and Lance couldn't help but notice how serene Keith looked like that. Their pinkies brushed again, and Lance directed his gaze to their hands so close to each other; he reluctantly moved his pinky finger up, taking Keith's finger in his and giving it a slight squeeze. 

_It's okay, I'm here for you_. He wanted to say, the words stuck in his throat. 

Keith didn't open his eyes and didn't move his hand away from Lance's, instead he just squeezed their pinkies together and smiled up at the sky, tilting his face up as a gentle breeze enveloped them and ruffled his hair, his face being lit by the faint light of the moon. Lance smiled, turning his face to look at the stars just like Keith. 

" _What would I do without your smart mouth? Drawing me in, and you kicking me out._ " He caught himself humming to himself, missing the romantic music at times like this. " _Got my head spinning, no kidding, I_ _can't_ _pin you down._ " 

" _What's going on in that beautiful mind? I'm on your magical mystery ride,_ " Lance stared wide-eyed at Keith as he continued the song, his eyes shining to the stars with the small smile on his lips. " _And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright._ " 

" _My head's under water, but I'm breathing fine._ " Lance sang, looking at Keith. " _You're crazy and I'm out of my mind._ " 

Keith slowly moved his hand until his palm was up, his fingers inviting Lance. Lance looked at Keith's hand for a few seconds before reluctantly joining his hand to his, sliding his palm down Keith's palm until their fingers were tightly entwined, tightened together. He stared again at the stars with a small smile on his face, his stomach twisting with the warm feeling of holding Keith's hand that way, taking a breath before singing again: 

" _Cause all of me, loves all of you._ " He sang in a low voice, his thumb doing circles Keith's hand. " _Love your curves and all your edges, all your perfect imperfections._ " 

" _Give your all to me, I'll give my all to you._ " Keith continued the music, still staring at the stars, the soft voice in the silent night. " _You're my end and my beginning, even when I lose I'm winning._ " 

" _Cause_ _I give you all of me._ " Lance sang, finally turning his face to look at the side of Keith's face. 

Keith stared back at him, turning his body so that they were now facing each other. He squeezed Lance's hand in his, caressing it with his thumb. " _And you give me all of you_." 

And there, beneath the stars, with Keith holding his hand and smiling at him with those eyes shining like that, Lance was definitely sure that he was completely in love. 

-x-x-x- 

They were attacked when they were only a few galaxies away from Earth. 

Lance grunted in his Lion. He knew that everything was too quiet, too peaceful, to be all right. Quizznaking Sendak was setting an ambush, he caught them unawares, off guard, in the middle of the night while they were resting and recharging the energies on a random planet too small to be inhabited. He suspected something was wrong the moment Allura and Shiro decided to land on that planet instead of going straight, Red purring in his mind that she also felt something was wrong. 

And they were right in the end. They had been attacked the same night that they landed to rest and recharge, and now Lance was maneuvering Red over the tall canopies of the trees to escape the Galra fleet that was behind him. 

"Where did those guys come from ?!" Pidge shouted into her microphone, her voice exploding into Lance's helmet and making him squeeze his eyes shut by the loud sound. 

"Pidge!" Hunk yelled as loudly as Pidge, Lance's head starting to throb. "Where are you?! I need help!" 

"I'm surrounded!" She replied. 

"We need to form Voltron!" Allura's voice sounded loud in the microphones. 

Lance knocked out two ships coming toward him, two more coming up. He grunted. "How are we going to form the Voltron if we're all surrounded and far from each other?!" 

"Keith?!" Pidge's voice sounded alarmed in the microphone. "What we do?!" 

"I don't know!" Keith replied with an angry grunt. 

"We need a distraction!" 

Lance bit his lower lip as he wiped out more ships and more came up after them, thinking in a way that they could distract the fleet for only a few seconds so that they would finally be able to form Voltron. He looked up, toward the mother ship, swallowing as a terrible idea crossed his mind. 

"Pidge!" Lance called. "Can these ships be shut down by the mother ship?" 

"Yes," Pidge replied immediately. "There's a button on the central control panel that shuts off all ships at the same time, why?" 

He didn't say anything else, just pulled Red's controls and began to guide her up. 

"Lance!" He heard Hunk scream. "What are you doing?!" 

"There's too many ships! We're never going to be able to stop them like this!" He said quickly, the mother ship getting bigger as he and Red approached. He felt Red's concern, asking him what he was planning to do. "I need to turn these things off from inside, girl. It's the only way." 

Red resonated in his mind, agreeing with him. She seemed nervous, unsure, but Lance felt she agreed with him. He took a deep breath, accelerating. 

"Lance!" He closed his eyes, feeling guilty for how distressed Keith sounded in the microphone. "Don't do this!" 

"It's okay, I'll be fine. Red... Red won't let anything bad happen to me, right, girl?" He smiled softly at the purring that Red gave in response. 

"Lance, please," Keith begged. "You're gonna die." 

"It's okay, Keith." Lance assured him. "I'll be fine. I promise you." 

"Lance," Allura called out. "You know how risky this is, right?" 

"Affirmative, princess," he replied. 

Allura sighed. "Please be careful. I'll cover you." 

Lance smiled. The mother ship was only a few feet away. "Thank you." 

"The control panel is in the central room." Pidge informed him, explosions were heard. "I don't think there will be many guards there, to be honest. The whole fleet is here. But be careful anyway. " 

"No!" Keith shouted. "I didn't agree with that! Lance, stay in your Lion! Don't you dare go! " 

Lance closed his eyes tightly and bit his bottom lip, his hand going to his Bayard at his waist as he removed his belt and opened the cockpit door. He went to Red's entrance, holding onto one of her teeth. "Alright, girl. When I jump, you quickly turn around and go the other way, okay? I want them to think I'm still here. " 

Red nodded in his mind, increasing the speed with which she approached. Lance took a deep breath, closing the visor of his helmet and taking two more deep breaths before Red finally opened her mouth, allowing Lance to leave. 

He bit his lips, standing at Red's entrance. "Hey, Keith?" He called, glancing forward with a sudden wave of courage taking over his body. He heard Keith shake into the microphone. "If I survive this, I'm going to kiss you." 

He didn't wait for a response before turning off the communicators. 

"Please, be here when I leave the ship." He begged for Red in a whisper before finally jumping, the rockets on his back coming to life to boost him forward. He grabbed the wall of the ship and quickly hid behind a large metal pillar as Red shifted the route to go under the ship, causing some of the fleet's ships to crash into the wall and explode when they couldn't turn aside in time. 

Lance gasped, his eyes wide open for the explosion while he grinned and moved to enter the ship using an opening behind the metal pillar. He looked into the nave through the opening to confirm that there was no one in sight before entering the ship and landing silently at his feet, his hand automatically going to his Bayard at his waist. 

"Hello?" He whispered, squeezing the microphone into his helmet, staring out into the long dark hallway in front of him. "Is anyone there?" 

"Lance." A comforting voice answered him, making him smile in relief. 

"Shiro," he said. "Where I am?" 

"You're close to the loading zone. The central room is across the hall, to the right. "Shiro responded after a second, and Lance nodded even though the Ex-Paladin couldn't see him. 

"Any guard?" 

"No, all clear." 

Lance nodded again, standing up and activating his sword as he ran silently forward. It was a long, dark corridor, and for a moment he had the feeling of being watched. 

"Two guards on the right." Shiro alerted him into his microphone as Lance reached the end of the hallway, sticking his back against the wall. 

"Easy peasy." He said with a crooked grin, his grin breaking as he finally turned the corridor and jumped toward the first guard, shouting. He hit the ground easily, being caught unawares, and the second guard quickly emerged from shock and flew toward Lance. 

The fight was quick, the soldier being slaughtered almost as easily as the first, and Lance took a deep breath when the soldier fell to the ground at his feet, dead. He looked at the huge door ahead of him. 

"Shiro?" He called. "How many guards are inside?" 

The answer took a little longer than Lance would like. "Ten." 

"Shit." He murmured, biting his lower lip. He then brought his sword to his chest, Bayard turning into a cannon. He smiled crookedly. "Let's do this." 

The door opened with a loud noise, Lance shouting as he entered the room firing on all sides. He took three soldiers at once, catching them unawares, still firing on the guards as he moved to hide behind a wall. He took a deep breath, waiting for the shots the soldiers were firing at him to stop before he came out from behind the wall and shot again, killing three other soldiers. 

"Six are gone, four to go." He murmured to himself from behind the same wall as before, his cannon turning into his sword before he activated his shield and leaped from behind the wall with a shout, flying toward the soldiers. 

His sword collided with one of the soldiers' weapons, causing an explosion of sparks before the guard attempted to hit Lance with the barrel of his weapon, failing in process and being brought to the ground as Lance's sword crossed his chest. The Paladin stared deathly at the three remaining soldiers, his shield firmly on his left arm as he maneuvered his sword easily, spinning it in the air and smiling amusingly at the guards. 

"Is that all you have?" He said defiantly, snapping his neck as the guards looked at him as if they were about to take Lance's life, which in a way was true. He smiled again, the smile turning into a scowl as he jumped forward and went into a sword fight with the guards. 

Lance knew he was playing with fire. He knew the Galra well enough to know that he shouldn't play with them that way, but he didn't really care. Not when he was so close to Earth, not when he was so close to seeing his family again. He let out a deep shout as his sword pierced the skull of one of the guards, sending him to the ground with a burst of purple blood that soiled his armor, and didn't even give the other two guards time to process what had happened before his Bayard turn back into a cannon and he quickly finalize the remaining two guards with two shots right on the chest. 

He was silent for a moment, paralyzed in the place, his eyes wide, the cannon still in his hands and the adrenaline boiling in his veins. He shifted his gaze to the dead guards scattered around the room, the air escaping from his lungs as he finally realized what he had done. 

"Fuck." He breathed, his Bayard returning to its normal form. 

"Holy shit, Lance." Shiro suddenly sounded on the communicators, sounding as shocked as Lance himself. "What was that?" 

"I don't know, but it was  _awesome_." Lance replied, his vision still blurred, a smile growing on his lips. 

"It really was incredible, but you need to hurry." Shiro said in a suddenly serious voice, causing Lance to turn off his thoughts. He nodded, removing his helmet and making quick steps to the control panel. 

Lance left his helmet beside him on the floor and fell to his knees, immediately removing the cover of what he knew was the real panel. He swallowed as he stared at the countless knobs, wires, and levers that formed the panel, feeling the air warmer around him as nervousness mounted. 

"Okay, what do I do?" He asked into the microphone, voice urgent. He didn't know how much time he had before more soldiers discovered his position and ran to eliminate him. "Shiro?" 

"Lance!" Another voice sounded in the communicators, distressed in the midst of the explosions. 

"Pidge." Lance said. 

"Look for the PWRSW and GND1 wires and reverse the polarities of their plugs so they become negative and then connect the HDGKE7 wire to the KPWRT so the power source is corrupted and unplug-" Pidge started to explain quickly, Lance frowning and grunting at the explanation. 

"Pidge, English!" He yelled angrily, turning his head back as he heard footsteps in the hallway. 

"Okay! Do you see the purple wires? "Pidge asked through a loud blast, the communicator becoming static for a few seconds before returning to normal. 

"Yes!" Lance replied as he found those purple wires, holding them in his hands. 

"Then cut them off!" She shrieked one last time before the connection was interrupted, leaving Lance alone again. He wasted no time after that, pulling out all the purple wires he found from the connectors. He opened his eyes wide as he heard the ships of the Galras fleets lose strength and begin to fall from the sky, smiling victoriously. Lance let out a sigh of relief, getting up to leave the ship before it was too late. 

He didn't see what hit him. 

As soon as he stood up and turned his back, he was hited by a sharp blow on the left side of his face that had caused an explosion of pain all over his body. He dropped to his knees, one hand going directly to the injured eye while the other blindly looked at Bayard at his waist. He looked up with difficulty, the sight of the left eye being compromised by the cut that left him seeing the world in red while he formed his sword to fight with the soldiers who now surrounded him in the room. 

He removed his hand from his eye, trying not to panic when he noticed his hand bathed in blood, the red drops staining the floor beneath him. He raised his sword with a grunt, fighting with the soldier in front of him as his mind thought of ways to escape the ship alive. Another fleet of Galras entered the room, making him shudder when he realized that it would be impossible to defeat all those soldiers, further wounded in that way. 

His eyes moved quickly to the control panel as he eliminated one soldier and fought another, a bad idea crossing his mind. Lance swallowed, his vision becoming worse with every second as blood continued to gush from the wound in his eye and his head began to throb with blood loss, and he grunted before sliding on his knees near to the panel control. He cut a soldier's legs on the way, grabbing and quickly putting on his neglected helmet before turning on the communicator. 

"Keith." He called in a shaky voice. 

"What?!" Keith's voice almost immediately echoed in his ear, desperate. "Lance?!" 

Lance closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and turning his sword into a cannon. He opened the door on the other side of the control panel and slid across the table, landing on the floor with a painful thud and firing at several soldiers at once. 

"I'm sorry." He told Keith on the other side of the communicator. 

He closed his eyes again as he fired three times at the control panel. 

Lance got up in time to see the soldiers staring at him in shock and the control panel exploding was the last thing he saw before throwing himself out the window, plummeting into free fall as he heard Keith scream painfully in his ear. 

-x-x-x- 

The next events were like a blur to him. 

Lance didn't remember passing out. He didn't remember passing out, but he remembered how he was breathless as he plummeted through the sky at high speed, the mother ship exploding in the air and sending red, orange, and purple flashes at him as he fell toward his death. Lance didn't remember passing out, but he remembered being suddenly surrounded by red and black as a vaguely familiar face stared up at him in horror. He didn't remember passing out, but he remembered the pain, he remembered how the pain was so unbearable that for a moment he wished it would just end soon. He didn't remember passing out, but he remembered Keith's terrified scream in his ear as he cut through the sky and plunged into his death. 

He didn't remember passing out, but he remembered Keith. 

He remembered the way Keith smiled at him, and the way he rolled his eyes and let out a soft laugh every time he told him a dull joke. He remembered how Keith's hair seemed soft to the touch, but that he'd never had the opportunity to test his theory. He remembered the way Keith's fingers fit perfectly into his, and how pretty he looked in the moonlight, the scar on his cheek jutting against his pale skin, his black hair looking like silk against the grass they were lying down. He remembered Keith's soft voice as he hummed beside him, the simple smiles, the deep stares, and the way he seemed to look more beautiful every day. Lance remembered Keith's lips, the way they looked so soft and inviting, and the way he'd never had a chance to prove them against his own. 

Lance remembered closing his aching eyes, a faint smile on his lips as he felt the uncomfortable cold in his belly as he plummeted across the sky, the wind injuring his ears. If he was going to die like this, he was glad Keith was his last thought. 

But then he remembered lying on a stretcher, being led by brightly lit corridors while his head throbbed. 

He remembered having several heads bent against him, watching him from above, murmuring things to each other as they put lights on his aching eyes that made him groan in pain and growl. 

He remembered glimpses of closets scattered about a large, too white room with medicines and machines on all sides, with people in white clothes watching him closely and writing things in large passbooks. 

He remembered, at a specific moment, seeing Keith's silhouette standing at his side, wearing his green jacket, his arms folded across his chest, and his hair falling in his eyes as he talked to someone in front of him who, judging by his voice, appeared to be Shiro along with another man. 

He remembered hearing Keith say irritably, "It doesn't matter the consequences, Shiro. I'm about to do something stupid." 

Lance then remembered to smile with difficulty, shifting his head to the side to try to look at Keith, whispering " _I'm stupid, do me,_ " before the world turned black and he again lost his consciousness. 

-x-x-x- 

He woke up almost 15 days later. 

Lance didn't open his eyes immediately after waking up. He felt the strong light positioned just above his face as he regained consciousness, knowing that it would hurt his eyes if he opened them immediately. Instead he groped the things around him, frowning as he slid his palms down the soft mattress beneath him, his hands then running through the sheet that covered him before finally touching his body. He felt up his chest and up his neck, fingers sliding down his face and suddenly stopping at the bandage in his left eye. 

Only then did he open his eyes, so wide that he swore they would leap from their orbits. 

The first thing he noticed, aside from half of his head being bandaged, was the room in which he was. Very white and large, with two empty beds (litters?) on the opposite side from where he was lying down and with another bed also empty on his right side; large windows hidden behind blue curtains filled the left side wall, and several drug cabinets filled the walls parallel to the windows with a single door closed between them that Lance guessed was the way out of the room. He frowned again, not knowing where he was. 

"Hello?" He said in a harsh voice, wincing at the painfully dry throat. Water, he needed water. "Is anyone there?" 

The door to the room was opened only a moment later, a man in white (a doctor?) carrying a notebook and  _Shiro_ entering the room. 

"Shiro." Lance breathed. "You're alright." 

Shiro smiled, moving quickly to Lance's side. "I'm fine. How are you feeling?" 

"Thirsty." He replied. Shiro nodded and grabbed a bottle of water from the table behind him, opening it and handing it to Lance who took half the bottle at once. "Thank you." He thanked him, the doctor continued to write down things in the book. "Where are the others? Where are  _we_?" 

Shiro smiled again, and Lance swore he'd never seen Shiro smile like that before. 

"Home." He replied. "Lance, we're  _home_." 

Lance gasped, his eyes widening at the answer. He felt the air escape his lungs, his heart instantly accelerating.  _We're home_. 

"Where's my mom? My family?" He fired, trying to get up from the bed and being pushed back by Shiro. "Where's Keith? Pidge, Hunk?" 

"Hey, take it easy." Shiro said with a laugh. "Your family still doesn't know you're back, we think you'd better recover before you meet them. Hunk and Pidge are fine, they're in a room in another part of the hospital doing some routine checkups." 

"Keith?" Lance insisted, arching an eyebrow. 

Shiro hesitated for a moment. "Keith is fine, but he's mad at you. I don't think he's going to come and visit you so soon." 

"Oh." Lance said. "Understandable." 

"You almost died, Lance." Shiro said in a lower voice, sitting on the edge of Lance's bed when the doctor left the room without saying anything. "We thought we'd lose you." 

"I thought I was going to die." Lance bit his lower lip, playing with his fingers. He noticed that his arms were partially covered with bandages. "What happened after I..." The sentence died in his mouth as flashes of his near death glowed menacingly in his mind. 

"The ship exploded, Sendak died in the explosion along with his army." Shiro replied. "Red saved you. You were falling to your death when Red caught you in the air and took you safely to the ground." Lance smiled at the mention of Red, feeling her asleep deep in his chest. "You must have hit your head somewhere, because you had a concussion along with..." Shiro interrupted. "Anyway, you're okay now. We're home, the Galra were detained and you'll eventually be fine. It's okay now." He completed with a smile, tapping Lance's leg and giving a comforting squeeze. 

Lance smiled back, picking up the water bottle from the table beside him and drinking the rest of the contents. "What is my diagnosis?" 

Shiro sighed. "A concussion, a lack of blood, a lack of oxygen in the brain, a few scratches and bruises. Everything has been recovered, except..." He stopped, his eyes moving to the bandage in Lance's eye. Lance reached out his hand and touched the bandage, swallowing hard, not knowing what he would find down there. 

"Did I lose my eye? Please, tell me I didn't." He pleaded in exasperation, making Shiro laugh out loud. 

"You didn't lose your eye, Lance." He said with a smile. "But you needed some stitches, though. The wound was really bad, it should get a scar." 

"Oh no." Lance said. "Not a scar, not on my face. Please, tell me you're kidding." 

Shiro laughed, tapping Lance's leg again before he stood up and walked to the bedroom door, placing half of his body out to call someone. Lance sighed and sank into the soft pillow, closing his eye as he waited for anyone who Shiro called to come and examine him. 

"Lance McClain?" A new, hoarse voice sounded in the room, causing Lance to open his eyes to look at the owner of the voice. It was a pretty man, in his 27s, with tanned skin and big green eyes partially hidden behind a pair of glasses. "I don't know if you remember me, but my name is Adam. Are you okay?" 

Lance's lips opened in shock, looking at Shiro leaning against the wall next to the door, his brow arching in a mute question. Shiro smiled, nodding softly. 

Lance turned to Adam, holding out his hand. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. It's good to meet you, I've heard a lot about you." 

Adam frowned, glancing quickly at Shiro. "You talked about me?" 

Shiro smiled, tilting his head to the side. "Only the good stuff." 

Adam rolled his eyes and smiled, turning back to Lance and squeezing his hand. "Anyway, Lance, can I ask you a few questions?" He said as he took the pen from behind his ear and a small notebook from the pocket of his lab coat. Lance nodded quickly and nodded to Shiro as the Ex-Paladin left them alone in the room and closed the door. And as much as Lance was happy to meet and spend time with Adam, all he wanted at the moment was to see Keith. 

-x-x-x-

It took almost a month for Lance to rediscover Keith again. 

During this month in the hospital, he performed several different types of tests. Blood tests, skin exams, tests to see if everything was okay with his brain, tests to check how his internal organs were. The stitches of the wound on his eye were removed, too, and as much as he was sad with the scar running from the middle of his forehead to just above his cheek, he was relieved to know that his vision hadn't been harmed. Pidge said that his scar made him look like an anime villain. 

He's reunited with his family, too. By the middle of his second week in the hospital his family had been informed of his return to Earth, and the next day his mamá, his abuelita, and all his eight siblings and nineteen cousins were in the hospital to see him. He wept in his mother's arms, relieved to have a chance to see her again, and vowed that he would never again disappear like that again while his mother kissed him all over his face and cried beside him, happy for his son to be back home. She swore she would throw a giant party as soon as he was discharged from the hospital, and he couldn't be happier. 

The person who saw the most in the hospital, besides Shiro, was Adam. In the early days he realized that Adam was an incredible person and they soon became good friends. Very cheerful, amusing and considerate, Lance soon realized what Shiro had seen in him. He had noticed, too, that Shiro and Adam had once again come closer, sharing simple touches and quick glances in the corridors of the hospital, and Lance couldn't hold his laughter when he noticed a purple hickey on Shiro's neck on a random day. 

Allura, Coran, Krolia, and Romelle (and even Keith's Cosmic Wolf, Allura's mice and Kaltenecker) were also in the hospital, but in a further area and isolated from the others for obvious reasons. Only doctors and trusted people were allowed to see and examine them, Adam fortunately being one of these people and updating Lance and Shiro daily from their conditions. They were fine, they were all fine. 

Hunk and Pidge were in the hospital as well, but in another observation hall. They were allowed to dine and spend their free time together in the games room and in the gardens, but they had to go back to their rooms on opposite sides of the hospital at seven in the evening. Lance eventually discovered that he was separated from the other two Paladins because his injuries were deeper than theirs, so he would need to stay on the observation for a longer time; he also found out that as long as he didn't recover one hundred percent, Pidge and Hunk couldn't go home either, and they would be kept there with him, with all four being released only at the same time. 

And Keith was... Complicated. 

Lance saw Keith sometimes in the corridors and food court, but Keith seemed to want to kill him every time they made eye contact. Lance's stomach wrapped uncomfortably every time Keith glared at him, not understanding why he was acting that way with him. Cold, silent, avoiding him at all costs. Hunk, Pidge, and Adam didn't seem to understand either, and Shiro changed the subject every time Lance asked about him, leaving him totally unresponsive and in the dark. 

"I don't know, man." Pidge would respond every time he asked why Keith was acting that way with him. "He's like that only with you. With me and with Hunk he's normal." 

Lance sighed, staring at the white ceiling above him. He missed Keith, missed the nights they spent awake looking at the constellations of alien planets, hands clasped and fingers tightly intertwined, he missed singing with him around the bonfire, missed the time they played all night long in the strange purple rain that fell on one of the planets they had rested on. He missed the taunts, the sarcastic smiles, the rolling of eyes, and the funny looks he received when he said something stupid. 

He just missed Keith. 

He sighed again before getting up from his bed, shod in his sneakers and walking with quick steps toward the door, determined to put an end to that ridiculous silence treatment he was receiving. He walked hurriedly through the hospital's large corridors, turning several rights and lefts to where he knew he would meet Keith, in the food court. 

He found him near the canteen, sitting at a table while sipping from a can of Coke and laughing at something that Hunk had said. Lance hesitated when he saw him like that, so cheerful and spontaneous, but soon he regained his courage and approached with steady steps. 

Keith's face closed as their eyes met. "Keith, can we talk?" Lance said as he came close enough, his voice sounding firmer than he intended. 

"No." Keith answered coldly, drinking the rest of his soda and making Lance roll his eyes. 

"Please?" He begged. 

Keith stared at him over his lashes for a few seconds before slamming the empty can on the table beneath him. "Right." He answered sharply, getting up and striding toward the TV room across the food court. Lance muttered a quick apology to Hunk before following Keith. He entered the partially dark room and closed the door behind him with a click before turning back. 

Lance didn't even have the chance to open his mouth to start talking before he was punched directly in the nose, sending a burst of pain through his body as the blood began to spatter across the floor. 

"What the-" He grunted with pain, bringing his right hand to his nose to stop the bleeding. 

"I told you to stay in your Lion!" Keith exclaimed angrily, his hands still clenched into fists at his sides. 

Lance stared at him wide-eyed, his mind finally understanding why Keith had been so angry with him these last few days. "Are you avoiding me because of  _that_?!" 

"You almost  _died_ , Lance!" Keith screamed, his voice breaking in the pronunciation of his name. "Do you have any idea of it?!" 

"Of course I have any idea of it! I thought I was going to die too!" Lance screamed back, feeling the metallic taste of his blood on his lips. "Did you really need to punch me?" He grunted. 

"Punch you?! I want to  _kill_ you!" Keith bellowed, flinging his arms around his body. "Do you have any idea how I felt when I saw you falling like that?!" 

"Do you have any idea how  _I_ felt about you ignoring me like that?!" Lance exploded. "Do you have any idea of what you did to my heart?!" 

"Your-" Keith paused. "Your what?" 

"You broke my heart!" Lance bellowed, desperate for Keith to understand. Now it was too late to go back. "You made me fall in love with you and then you broke my heart! Do you have any idea how I was feeling?! You ignored me, treated me badly, pretended I didn't even exist. Damn it, Keith! You couldn't even look at me! You have idea of how I-" 

Another sharp punch in the nose, another explosion of pain and blood. 

Lance shouted. "Can you please stop-" 

"You  _idiot_!" Keith yelled. "You stupid, idiot, asshole! I've been pining over you for _years_!  _Years_ , Lance!" 

"You _what_?!" Lance asked, frowning. "Why didn't you tell me?!" 

"I thought you hated me!" 

"Dude, I literally held your hand while singing All of Me to you!" Lance shouted with a discredited laugh. "I gave you my hoodie! I told you I would-" He halted the sentence when he saw Keith approaching menacingly, closing his eyes tightly and waiting for the third punch. 

Instead, Keith grabbed his face and kissed him. 

Lance gasped in surprise, Keith's lips pressed firmly to his. He reluctantly gave in to the kiss, opening his mouth and allowing the passage of Keith's tongue as they began a deep and awkward kiss, their teeth colliding several times by the force of the kiss, Lance's blood leaving a metallic taste in their tongues. Keith pushed Lance hard back until his back hit the wall next to the door, letting out a low moan from the pain before Keith was pushing him to sit on the table beside the door, fitting between the legs of the Red Paladin and pressing his fingers firmly on his thighs, Lance's hands drifting into Keith's hair and trapping his fingers between the strands as the kiss deepened and desperate. 

"Disgusting." 

They parted at the same time, Keith throwing his body back and Lance stood and leaned against the table to keep himself from falling. Sitting comfortably on the couch was Pidge, with a book open on her lap, her eyes running distractedly through the pages of the book. 

"Pidge." Lance breathed. "How long have you been there?" 

"Fifty minutes." She answered casually, turning the page of the book. 

"Fif... Fifty minutes?" He asked, face blank. 

"Yes." 

"You saw the whole fight?" Keith asked with an arched eyebrow. 

"Yep." She responded by popping the p, without looking up. 

"And you did nothing to stop it?!" Lance asked discreditably. 

"Nop." She replied, clicking the p again. 

"Why?" Lance asked. 

Pidge shrugged. "I had to stand you two in love with each other for a whole year. I couldn't take it anymore." 

"But you decide to interfere when we kissed?" Keith asked, narrowing his eyes. 

"Dude, you were kissing his blood. It was disgusting." She said with a grimace, her eyes still running through the pages of the book. 

"Hang on." Lance said with a frown as he noted something Pidge said. "You knew I liked him?" 

"And that he liked you, yes." Pidge replied. 

Lance's mouth opened in shock. "Did you find out I liked him before I did?" 

"Yes." Pidge confirmed. "I'm a good observer. I found out about you, about Keith, about Matt..." 

"Wait, Matt is-" 

"Bi, yeah. Dude had a whole ass crush on Shiro back on the Garrison. His reaction when he discovered Shiro was engaged was hilarious, I regret not having recorded it." 

Lance gasped. "You knew about Adam?!" 

Only then Pidge looked up from her book to look at Lance, raising her eyebrows. "You didn't?" 

Keith laughed, trying to hide the laughter behind his hand. Lance turned to face him, noticing how Keith's mouth and chin were really all bloody. 

"Am I the only one who discovered recently?" Lance asked discreetly, alternating the look between Keith and Pidge, who shrugged. 

"Don't be sad, buddy. At least you found out before we returned to Earth, I didn't think that would happen." Pidge said as she stood up, marking the page she was reading with her finger. "Well, I'm going to eat something, you can continue to do... whatever you were doing, with all the blood kinky or whatever." She said with a grimace, pointing to Lance and Keith's blood-soaked faces before slapping Lance's shoulder and leaving the room, closing the door behind her. Keith and Lance stared at the door for a few seconds before they faced each other again. 

Keith laughed. "Your face is all dirty with blood." 

"Yours is not so different, Mullet." Lance said, rolling his eyes. 

Keith laughed again before trying to wipe the blood from his chin with the sleeve of his (Lance's?) hoodie, wrinkling his nose when he noticed the blood was already dry. He called Lance with his hand and led them to the bathroom in the back of the room, taking a clean towel and wetting the tip of it before gently starting to pass it on Lance's face. 

Lance hissed at the pain, closing his eyes and biting his lips to keep himself from grunting. Keith rubbed Lance's face and nose gently with the wet towel until it was all clear, then passed for his face. He dropped the dirty towel on top of the sink when he'd finished wiping himself, returning to the front of the sofa where Lance was waiting silently. 

They stood facing each other, looking silently at each other's faces, not knowing what to do. Slowly, Lance moved his right hand to remove the hairs from Keith's eyes, placing the long strand behind the Paladin's ear before gently hold his face, thumb sliding down his cheek. Keith closed his eyes and leaned into the caress, smiling. 

Lance then slid his hand down, fingers tracing the purple scar on Keith's cheek, watching curiously the way the Paladin briefly frowned. 

"It hurts?" He asked in a whisper, his body unconsciously moving closer to Keith. Keith shook his head, then pulled his hand from Lance's waist to gently touch the scar on Lance's face. 

Lance closed his eyes and pressed his lips together, suddenly feeling ashamed of the scar that cut the left half of his face. "I hate it." He murmured in a shaky voice, and Keith seemed to notice the way Lance flinched at the touch, bringing the other hand to his face and pulling it to him, placing a soft kiss at the top of his scar. 

"I love it." Keith whispered, lowering his lips and placing a kiss on Lance's failing eyebrow. "It's a reminder that you made it." He continued to lower his kisses, the next being in Lance's closed eye. "It's a reminder that you survived, that you beated death." The next kiss was on the apple of his face and the next one on his cheek, at the end of the scar. He slid his nose down Lance's face, giving a softly kiss on the nose before sticking his brows together. "You're a survivor, Lance." 

He sniffled, feeling the crying in his throat and not daring to open his eyes, knowing that if he did then the tears would flow freely across his face, and he wouldn't allow himself to cry in front of Keith. Not there, not at that moment. Instead, he pulled Keith's face closer to him and softly pressed their lips together again. 

Keith corresponded at the same time, opening his lips to allow their tongues to intertwine together, tilting his head to the side to deepen the kiss. He slid one of his hands down Lance's back and pulled him close by the waist, fingers tightening his skin, almost as if he were afraid Lance would disappear through his fingers. Lance sighed into the kiss, feeling their lips salty because of the involuntarily tears spilled, their soft lips moving slowly in synchrony, his fingers curling into Keith's long hair, pushing him gently back until he was sitting on the couch. 

Lance sat on Keith's lap without breaking the kiss, smiling in the middle of the kiss as Keith laughed softly against his lips, one hand holding his waist while the other held his face gently and wiped the tears off. Keith reluctantly detached his lips, kissing his face to wipe away the tears. 

"Don't cry." Keith begged as he stroked Lance's face with one hand and slowly slid his nose down his face, giving soft kisses all the way to his neck. "Everything is okay now. We're home, _nothing can hurt you now._ " 

Nothing could hurt Lance now. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please, let me know what you think about it <3
> 
> Here's my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/sthorlord) and my [Tumblr](https://gunsforholmes.tumblr.com/) in case anyone wants to talk to me about, i promise i'm nice <3


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